Samel’s small part in the McCandless story occurred in 1992 when he and two other hunters found a 1940s bus in a remote area in Alaska. There was a terrible smell coming from it, and Krakrauer wrote in his book: “Samel steeled himself to take a look.”

He found McCandless’ body in a sleeping bag.

"He was kind of proud of the fact that maybe he helped somehow but it wasn't a turning point for him or anything," brother Steve Samel told the Anchorage Daily News. "He hunted and fished a lot."

Steve Samel told the paper that the family wanted more information on exactly what happened when his brother was killed. The truck Samel was driving had a device on it that required the driver to take a breath test before it would start.